Mining and construction machines, such as excavators, hydraulic mining shovels, and backhoe loaders commonly employ an implement system including one or more articulable arms and a bucket pivotally attached to an articulable arm. Often, the implement system also includes a thumb. Generally a thumb is designed to match a particular bucket. The thumb may include a particular type of tooling, which may be integral to the thumb. An operator may need to store and maintain multiple thumbs for each bucket to accommodate the various tooling needed by the operator. Other thumbs may include removable tooling that may be time consuming and difficult to remove and replace.
U.S. Patent application No. 2014/0007467 to Kovar et al. discloses a counteracting thumb for an implement of a machine that includes first and second structure support plates each having first and second planar portions connected by an intermediate curved portion to orient the planar portions at an obtuse angle relative to each other. A first end edge of the first plate may be connected to an inner surface of the second plate proximate a first end edge of the second plate, and second end edge of the second plate may be connected to an inner surface of the first plate proximate a second end edge of the first plate. Side plates of the thumb may be connected to an outer surface of the first plate, and teeth of the thumb may be connected to an outer surface of the second plate.
The present disclosure is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems discovered by the inventor.